Preliminary comparison between manual assembly and intelligent human-robot collaborative assemblies in terms of quality and assembly time

In recent years, the use of Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC) in manufacturing systems has grown significantly, within the framework of Industry 4.0 and emerging Industry 5.0. Collaborative robots, thanks to their ability to reduce physical and mental stress of operators, enable increased productivity and quality performance. This paper analyses assembly time and quality trends as a function of assembly complexity in intelligent collaborative assembly and makes a holistic comparison between a manual assembly and two different collaborative assemblies, focusing on assembly times and in-process errors. The assembly of products with different levels of complexity is used as a case study.